Milestone: Eric 5 months

Eric is now able to roll himself over (but only in one direction). He has been working really hard on accomplishing this, and it's been funny to watch him. He survived a trip to NY (and gave me lots of poop, to boot).

His weight gain seems to have plateaued for now, but he must be close to 20lbs. now! He's just all sorts of fat, especially his legs. My mom asked if he was able to roll over yet (before he was able to do it), and when I said no, my dad chimed in, "Because he's fat!" :)

Compared to Anneli, Eric is very vocal, and very loud. Anneli's vocalizations were soft and feminine, but Eric tends to screech, blabber, and gurgle. He blows raspberries when he's angry, he yells when he's tired, he giggles hysterically when Anneli talks to him. It's fun to see the differences between the two kids, and I wonder if Eric is more vocal because he has another baby talking to him.

I've also been having a little fun with Eric. I put Anneli's Hello Kitty hairband on him. He's so cute! One day, I will show that picture to his fiancee, and he will hate me for it.

[returning from Costco, after eating some frozen yogurt]
Anneli: Omma, my tongue is wet.
Me: Okay.
Anneli: My mouth is wet.
Me: Okay.
Anneli: My mouth smells like... [looks up, trying to think]
Me: What does it smell like?
Anneli: It smells like butt.

Eric has had some difficulty pooping lately. He has pooped once in the last six days. The most probable reason is the rice cereal he had. It's normal for rice cereal to cause some constipation (Anneli went 2-3 days at a time without a poop), but one poop in a week is a little strange. He doesn't seem uncomfortable, although his farts are STINKY. He's been sneaking out some silent ones, too. We've been giving him prune juice hoping to help the poop, but it doesn't seem to be working. Suggestions welcome.

Milestone: Eric 4 months

Weight: 17 lbs. 6 oz. (90th percentile)
Head: 16.75 in. (60th percentile)
Chest: 17.25 in. (85th percentile)
Length: 26 in. (80th percentile)

And that's on an empty stomach! What a fatty.

Anneli has obviously inherited her clumsiness from me. She had a rough day yesterday. We were at Target ("red circle shopping") and she ran into the arm of a clothes rack. Banged up her cheek. Later in the evening, she fell face first down a set of stairs and landed on the opposite cheek! Luckily she didn't break a tooth, although there was some bleeding. She had a big lip this morning. She tried to blame me for her falling, said my foot made her fall. She didn't believe me when I said she fell by herself.

So let's update on her newly acquired skills:
- count to one hundred by ones and tens
- write every letter of the alphabet
- write basic words (cat, cow, car, mom, dad, eye, pig)
- spell and write her name and Eric's
- draw flowers, ants, rainbows, suns, people
- using adverbs (definitely, surely)

She can draw people much better now. She now includes a body and limbs, and she adds hair when applicable. ("Oppa, you don't have hair on top.") I should start scanning her pictures so I can show them to her when she's older.

Eric can hold his head up when he's on his belly! We're trying to get him to roll over, but he can't quite yet. (Maybe because he's so fat!) If he's like his sister, then he probably won't do it for another few months.

He's been smiling and laughing a lot, and his face just lights up when he does. I'll post some more pictures of him--all smiles, of course. He has his four-month physical this afternoon, so I'll find out exactly how fat he is! (He is now wearing 12-month clothes.)

Eric is 100 days old today! Koreans usually mark this day with a huge family celebration, which we will hold this Saturday. See you then!

[edit 07/27/2001] I realize I never posted anything about the party. I also didn't take any pictures, which I had planned to do, but obviously, things got a little busy. Anyway, it was fun all around because so many of my family attended. It was really nice to have everyone here!